Coping with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Are you one of the 1.2 million people in Britain who suffers from OCD? This is a distressing condition that, in extreme case, can make your life a misery. In fact severe OCD can make life next to impossible. However, as with many similar conditions, understanding is growing and help is at hand.

WHAT IS OCD?

‘OCD’ stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that some scientists believe results from a chemical imbalance in the brain. Drugs are available to treat this, but it does also respond to various forms of therapy such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Hypnotherapy. People who have OCD suffer from fearful and unpleasant thoughts, which keep coming back and intrude into daily life. They also feel very anxious, believing they are under threat, although this isn’t apparent to other people. The idea of ‘threat’ usually focuses on something specific such as germs, or being burgled. For instance, someone who is obsessed with germs may wash their hands hundreds of times, terrified of what might happen if they don’t, even to the point where their skin chaps and their hands swell up. If the fear is about being robbed, the person may go back many times, to check they locked the door. Some people have to confirm they have turned off the electricity, or taps. There may also be an element of ritual, such as having to check a special number of times, or walk in a specific way, or repeat certain words. The OCD sufferer knows, logically, that this is absurd, and yet they can’t help themselves.

ANXIETY LIES AT THE ROOT

We all know that life is a dangerous business and we are all primed to cope with circumstances far more demanding than those we usually meet in modern life. Our brains and bodies haven’t changed that much since the Stone Age, yet we no longer have to run from wild beasts or hunt to survive. There is a part within some people that can’t quite accept this, experiencing a background anxiety. ‘Surely something is going to go wrong in a minute’ runs the thought, and this can alter the chemistry in the body. People who have OCD try to cope with this anxiety by projecting it onto something specific, such as bacteria, or break-ins. Strangely, this can be a way of making the anxiety more ‘manageable’. OCD is a way of trying to take control of what you can’t actually control – the random nature of life.

MAGICAL THINKING

OCD has some elements in common with the kind of magical thinking you may have indulged in as a child. Things like ‘If I don’t step on any of the cracks in the pavement then Dad will have bought me a new toy’ or similar. With this kind of thinking you tell yourself you can influence the outcome to get something you very much want (or possibly to avoid something you very much fear) in a way that has nothing to do with cause and effect. This is considered immature, or even crazy, by the scientific establishment. However, occultists who work with magic would say that rituals are a way of focusing the subconscious mind, that the mind can have an effect on results and that this happens in a way that is outside cause and effect. Whatever the case, OCD takes this to extremes and is totally counter-productive, fuelled by negative thinking rather than positive thinking and often causing harm.

GETTING HELP FOR OCD

One of the most difficult things about this type of disorder is that people suffering it feel ashamed, and try to hide it. This gives rise to even more anxiety, which in turn results in more extreme behaviour. If you suspect that you, or anyone else, is starting to get OCD, seek help, for it is much easier to treat before it gets out of hand. If the OCD is very severe, drugs may be needed, at least at first, to bring the condition under control. Hypnotherapy can help you get to the bottom of the anxiety, by revealing what’s going on in your subconscious and re-scripting your behaviour. CBT will give you coping strategies and mobilise your powers of logic and rationality.
• Ask yourself what you’re really worried about? Was it triggered by something that happened when you were a child? Clarity can make it manageable.
• A spiritual path is always a great antidote to anxiety. You know, deep down, that there is more than this world, and that you are protected.
• Challenge your behaviour rationally. Focus on this. Washing your hands fifty times cannot help anything.
• Consciously focus on the rituals, telling yourself you will only check ten times (as an example) and that ten is a good, round number. Or write yourself a note to say you did turn off the tap.
• Distract yourself by becoming involved in something absorbing, challenging or pleasurable when those obsessive thoughts start to spin out.
• Remind yourself that people have recovered from this, and that you also will find a way.

If you have OCD, even mildly, it’s best to lose no time before getting support. We can offer medium readings and psychic readings and our on-line mediums are always there with their insight and wisdom from beyond this world. Getting a reading could enable you to chill and feel much better. Put in a call today and feel reassured and supported.